When Leonskaja was six and a half, her parents were able to buy her her first upright piano, at 7, she passed the entrance to one of Tbilisi's sixty music schools.[citation needed] At 11, she gave her orchestral debut with Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C Major (Op. 15), at 13 her first solo recital. At 14, she began an intense four-year period of study at the secondary school with a new piano teacher from Kiev, influenced by the Russian school of piano; in 1964, Elisabeth Leonskaja won the Enesco International Piano Competition in Bucharest. The judges included the composer and conductor Aram Khachaturian and the pianist Arthur Rubinstein.[3]

Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and has since then resided in Vienna. A notable recording of hers is of Edvard Grieg's piano transcriptions of Mozart's piano sonatas K. 545 and K. 533/494, accompanied by Sviatoslav Richter, with whom she built a close friendship and collaboration. She recorded many years for Teldec, now for German label MD and gives many Masterclasses.[citation needed]

1.
Soviet Union
–
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states

2.
Austrians
–
Austrians are a Germanic ethnic group and nation, native to Austria that share a common Austrian culture, Austrian descent and Austrian history. The English term Austrians was applied to the population of Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century, subsequently, during the 19th century, it referred to the citizens of the Empire of Austria, and from 1867 until 1918 to the citizens of Cisleithania. In the closest sense, the term Austria originally referred to the historical March of Austria, historically, Austrians were regarded as ethnic Germans and viewed themselves as such. Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 which resulted in Prussia expelling Austria from the Confederation, thus, when Germany was founded as a nation-state in 1871, Austria was not a part of it. In 1867, Austria was reformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the First Austrian Republic was founded in 1919. The Third Reich annexed Austria with the Anschluss in 1938, today, majority of Austrians do not identify as German. Austrians may be described either as a nationality or as a homogeneous Germanic ethnic group, the English word Austrian is a derivative of the proper name Austria, which is a latinization of Österreich, the German name for Austria. This word is derived from Ostarrîchi, which first appears in 996 and this, in turn, is probably a translation of the Latin Marcha Orientalis, which means eastern borderland. It was a margraviate of the Duchy of Bavaria, ruled by the House of Babenberg from AD976, during the 12th century, the Marcha Orientalis under the Babenbergs became independent of Bavaria. What is today known as Lower Austria corresponds to the Marcha Orientalis, the territory of what is today Austria in the Roman era was divided into Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia. Noricum was a Celtic kingdom, while the Pannonii were of Illyrian stock, the Raetians were an ancient alpine people probably akin to the Etruscans. During the Migration period, these territories were settled by the Bavarians and other Germanic groups in the west, in the 8th century, the former territories of Raetia and Noricum fell under Carolingian rule, and were divided into the duchies of Swabia, Bavaria and Carinthia. Pannonia until the end of the 8th century was part of the Avar Khaganate, the East March during the 9th century was the boundary region separating East Francia from the Avars and the Magyars. The site of Vienna had been settled since Celtic times, the various populations of these territories were not unified under the single name of Austrians before the early modern period. The term Austrian in these times was used for identifying subjects of the Domus Austriae, although not formally a united state, the lands ruled by the Habsburgs would sometimes be known by the name Austria. In reality they remained a disparate range of states, most of which were part of the complex network of states that was the Holy Roman Empire. However, the half of the 18th century saw an increasingly centralised state begin to develop under the regency of Maria Theresa of Austria. After the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon, the emperor Franz II formally founded the Austrian Empire in 1804 and these non-Hungarian lands were not officially called the Austrian Empire

3.
Pianist
–
A pianist is an individual musician who plays the piano. Most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, consequently, pianists have a wide variety of repertoire and styles to choose from, including traditionally classical music, Jazz, blues and all sorts of popular music, including rock music. Most pianists can, to an extent, play other keyboard-related instruments such as the synthesizer, harpsichord, celesta. Perhaps the greatest pianist of all time was Franz Liszt, whose mastery was described by Anton Rubinstein, In comparison with Liszt. Modern classical pianists dedicate their careers to performing, recording, teaching, researching as well as learning new works/expanding their repertoire and they generally do not write or transcribe music as pianists did in the 19th century. Some classical pianists might specialize in accompaniment and chamber music while others perform as full-time piano soloists. Mozart could be considered the first concert pianist as he performed widely on the piano, composers Beethoven and Clementi from the classical era were also famed for their playing, as were, from the romantic era, Liszt, Brahms, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff. From that era, leading performers less known as composers were Clara Schumann, however, as we do not have modern audio recordings of most of these pianists, we rely mainly on written commentary to give us an account of their technique and style. Jazz pianists almost always perform with other musicians and their playing is freer than that of classical pianists and they create an air of spontaneity in their performances. They generally do not write down their compositions, improvisation is a significant part of their work, well known Jazz pianists include Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell. Popular pianists might work as performers, session musicians, arrangers most likely feel at home with synthesizers. A single listing of pianists in all genres would be impractical, the following is an incomplete list of such musicians. As a result, there are prominent communities of amateur pianists all over the world play at quite a high level and give concerts just because of their love to music. The International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, held annually in Paris and it was only after the competition that he started pursuing a career as a classical pianist. The German pianist Davide Martello is known for traveling around conflict zones to play his moving piano, Martello has previously been recognised by the European parliament for his “outstanding contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values”

4.
Tbilisi
–
Tbilisi, commonly known by its former name Tiflis, is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of roughly 1.5 million inhabitants. Founded in the 5th century by the monarch of Georgias ancient precursor the Kingdom of Iberia, Tbilisi has since served, with intermissions, as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Under Russian rule, from 1801 to 1917 Tiflis was the seat of the Imperial Viceroy governing both sides of the entire Caucasus. Tbilisis varied history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix of medieval, classical, Middle Eastern, Art Nouveau, historically, Tbilisi has been home to people of diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, though it is overwhelmingly Eastern Orthodox Christian. Archaeological studies of the region have indicated human settlement in the territory of Tbilisi as early as the 4th millennium BC, according to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458. One widely accepted variant of the legend of Tbilisis founding states that King Vakhtang I Gorgasali of Georgia went hunting in the wooded region with a falcon. The Kings falcon allegedly caught or injured a pheasant during the hunt, King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to cut down the forest and build a city on the location. The name Tbilisi derives from Old Georgian Tbilisi, and further from Tpili, the name Tbili or Tbilisi was therefore given to the city because of the areas numerous sulphuric hot springs that came out of the ground. King Dachi I Ujarmeli, who was the successor of Vakhtang I Gorgasali, Tbilisi was not the capital of a unified Georgian state at that time and did not include the territory of Colchis. It was, however, the city of Eastern Georgia/Iberia. During his reign, King Dachi I oversaw the construction of the wall that lined the citys new boundaries. From the 6th century, Tbilisi grew at a steady pace due to the favourable and strategic location which placed the city along important trade. Tbilisis favourable and strategic location did not necessarily bode well for its existence as Eastern Georgias/Iberias capital, in the year 627, Tbilisi was sacked by the Byzantine/Khazar armies and later, in 736–738, Arab armies entered the town under Marwan II Ibn-Muhammad. After this point, the Arabs established an emirate centered in Tbilisi, in 764, Tbilisi, still under Arab control was once again sacked by the Khazars. In 853, the armies of Arab leader Bugha Al-Turki invaded Tbilisi in order to enforce its return to Abbasid allegiance, the Arab domination of Tbilisi continued until about 1050. In 1068, the city was again sacked, only this time by the Seljuk Turks under Sultan Alp Arslan. In 1122, after fighting with the Seljuks that involved at least 60,000 Georgians and up to 300,000 Turks. After the battles for Tbilisi concluded, David moved his residence from Kutaisi to Tbilisi, making it the capital of a unified Georgian State, from 12–13th centuries, Tbilisi became a dominant regional power with a thriving economy and a well-established social system/structure

5.
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
–
Georgia, formally the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly known as Soviet Georgia was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its inception in 1922 to its breakup in 1991. From November 18,1989, the Georgian SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws, geographically, the Georgian SSR was bordered by Turkey to the south-west and the Black Sea to the west. Within the Soviet Union it bordered the Russian SFSR to the north, Armenian SSR to the south, on November 28,1917, after the October Revolution in Russia, there was a Transcaucasian Commissariat established in Tiflis. A moderate, multi-party democratic system led by the Social Democratic Party of Georgia operated in the Democratic Republic of Georgia, but in February 1921, the Red Army invaded Georgia. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia was established on February 25,1921, on March 2 of the following year the first constitution of Soviet Georgia was accepted. From March 12,1922 to December 5,1936 it was part of the Transcaucasian SFSR together with the Armenian SSR, in 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved. In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved and Georgia became the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, lavrentiy Beria became head of the Georgian OGPU and purged Georgia until he was transferred to Moscow in 1938. Reaching the Caucasus oilfields was one of the objectives of Hitlers invasion of the USSR in June 1941. The country contributed almost 700,000 fighters to the Red Army and he abolished their respective autonomous republics. The Georgian SSR was briefly granted some of their territory until 1957, the decentralisation program introduced by Khrushchev in the mid-1950s was soon exploited by Georgian Communist Party officials to build their own regional power base. A thriving pseudo-capitalist shadow economy emerged alongside the official state-owned economy, corruption was at a high level. Among all the republics, Georgia had the highest number of residents with high or special secondary education. Although corruption was hardly unknown in the Soviet Union, it became so widespread, shevardnadze ascended to the post of First Secretary with the blessings of Moscow. He was an effective and able ruler of Georgia from 1972 to 1985, improving the official economy, Soviet power and Georgian nationalism clashed in 1978 when Moscow ordered revision of the constitutional status of the Georgian language as Georgias official state language. Bowing to pressure from street demonstrations on April 14,1978. April 14 was established as a Day of the Georgian Language, on April 9,1989, Soviet troops were used to break up a peaceful demonstration at the government building in Tbilisi. Twenty Georgians were killed and hundreds wounded and poisoned, the event radicalised Georgian politics, prompting many - even some Georgian communists - to conclude that independence was preferable to continued Soviet unity. On October 28,1990, democratic elections were held

6.
Aram Khachaturian
–
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Soviet composers, born and raised in Tbilisi, the multicultural capital of Georgia, Khachaturian moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Without prior music training, he enrolled in the Gnessin Musical Institute, subsequently studying at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Nikolai Myaskovsky and his first major work, the Piano Concerto, popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the Violin Concerto and the Cello Concerto and his other significant compositions include the Masquerade Suite, the Anthem of the Armenian SSR, three symphonies, and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music—Gayane and Spartacus and his most popular piece, the Sabre Dance from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and has been covered by a number of musicians worldwide. His style is characterized by harmonies, captivating rhythms, virtuosity, improvisations. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was denounced as a formalist and his music dubbed anti-people in 1948. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and he traveled to Europe, Latin America and the United States with concerts of his own works. In 1957 Khachaturian became the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, Khachaturian was the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century and the author of the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. While following the musical traditions of Russia, he broadly used Armenian and to lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern & Central European. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a national treasure, Aram Khachaturian was born on 6 June 1903 in the city of Tiflis into an Armenian family. Some sources indicate Kojori, a village near Tiflis, as his birthplace and his father, Yeghia, was born in the village of Upper Aza near Ordubad in Nakhichevan and moved to Tiflis at the age of 13, he owned a bookbinding shop by the age of 25. His mother, Kumash Sarkisovna, was from Lower Aza, also a village near Ordubad, Khachaturians parents were betrothed before knowing each other, when Kumash was 9 and Yeghia was 19. They had 5 children, one daughter and four sons, of whom Aram was the youngest, Khachaturian received primary education at the Tiflis Commercial School, a school for aspiring merchants, where he debated between a career in medicine or engineering. In the 19th and early 20th centuries and throughout the early Soviet period, Tiflis was the largest city, in Tiflis, which has historically been multicultural, Khachaturian was exposed to various cultures. The city had a large Armenian population and was a major Armenian cultural center until the Russian Revolution, after over two years of fragile independence, Armenia fell to Soviet rule in late 1920. Georgia was also Sovietized by the spring of 1921, both countries formally became part of the Soviet Union in December 1922. To this people is dedicated my entire life, as is all my creative work

7.
Arthur Rubinstein
–
Arthur Rubinstein was a Polish American classical pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the written by a variety of composers. He was described by The New York Times as one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century and he played in public for eight decades. Rubinstein was born in Łódź, Congress Poland on January 28,1887 and he was the youngest of seven children of Felicja Blima Fajga and Izaak Rubinstein. His father owned a textile factory. Rubinsteins birth name was to be Leo, but his brother claimed that His name must be Artur. Since Artur X plays the violin so nicely, the baby may also become a great musician, and so he was called Artur, although in English-speaking countries, he preferred to be known as Arthur Rubinstein. His United States impresario Sol Hurok, however, insisted he be billed as Artur, at age two, Rubinstein demonstrated perfect pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sisters piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as a child prodigy and his father had a predilection for the violin and offered Rubinstein a violin, but Rubinstein rejected it because he thought his instinct was for harmony and polyphony. When the time comes for serious study, bring him to me, on December 14,1894, seven-year-old Arthur Rubinstein had his debut with pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. When he became ten years of age, Rubinstein moved to Berlin to continue his studies, joseph Joachim recommended Karl Heinrich Barth as the boys piano teacher. As a student of Barth, Rubinstein inherited a renowned pedagogical lineage, Barth was himself a pupil of Liszt, who had been taught by Czerny, who had in turn been a pupil of Beethoven. In 1904, Rubinstein moved to Paris to launch his career in earnest, where he met the composers Maurice Ravel and Paul Dukas and he also played Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2 in the presence of the composer. Through the family of Juliusz Wertheim he formed friendships with the violinist Paul Kochanski, Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. According to his own testimony and that of his son in François Reichenbachs film LAmour de la vie, by 1908, Rubinstein, destitute and desperate, hounded by creditors, and threatened with being evicted from his Berlin hotel room, made a failed attempt to hang himself. Subsequently, he said that he felt reborn and endowed with a love of life. During World War I, Rubinstein stayed in London, giving recitals, in 1916 and 1917, he made his first tours in Spain and South America where he was wildly acclaimed. It was during those tours that he developed an enthusiasm for the music of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla

8.
Moscow Conservatory
–
The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory is an educational music institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate diplomas in musical performance and musical research, the Conservatory offers various degrees including Bachelor of Music Performance, Master of Music and PhD in research. It was co-founded in 1866 as the Moscow Imperial Conservatory by Nikolai Rubinstein and it is the second oldest conservatory in Russia after the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was appointed professor of theory and harmony at its opening, since 1940 the conservatory bears his name. Some of the students now listed as being of the conservatory were in fact students of the Synodal School, the renovation of the hall was completed in 2011. Saint Petersburg Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, Moscow Conservatory, Traditions of Music Education, Art, and Science 1866–2006. Moscow, Moskovskaya Konservatoriya Publishing House,2006, loomis, George, Moscows Great Hall Turns 100, International Herald Tribune Moscow Conservatory website Moscow Conservatory website

9.
George Enescu Festival
–
The official opening day of the Enescu Festival took place on 4 September 1958, merely three years after George Enescu’s passing. On the 22 September of the year, the national premiere of George Enescu’s lyrical tragedy “Oedipe” took place. This role was going to out the rest of his career as a soloist. George Enescu was also the teacher of one of the greatest violinists of the past century – Lord Yehudi Menuhin and their bond was so strong that in 1995, Menuhin accepted the invitation to come to Romania to open the George Enescu International Festival. Menuhin also accepted to be the President of Honor of the Enescu Festival in 1998, today, an average of around 20 works by Romanian composer George Enescu are interpreted in the Enescu Festival each edition. Highlights of this edition of the Festival also include violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, the concerts are held in three different venues in Bucharest, Iaşi and Sibiu. The 2007 presentations ended with a performance of Carl Orffs Carmina Burana before an audience of over 4,000 at the Sala Palatului. The competition portion of the Festival lasts about a week, in the 2005 and 2007 presentations a daily open-air concert was added to the festival program. It is known as the Festival Piazza and features 3½ hours of classical music, the festival was meant to occur once every three years, being accompanied by an international competition, that was interrupted after the 5th edition, only to be reintroduced in the festival in 1991. On the 22nd of September of the year, the national premiere of George Enescu’s lyrical tragedy “Oedipe” took place. This role was going to out the rest of his career as a soloist. Compared to the first one, the second edition paid much attention to repertoires from the lyrical theatre. This initiative was supported by several renowned soloists such as Dimitr Uzunov, Ivan Petrov, for the first time, there were opened three new concert halls, the Grand Hall of the Palace, the Small Hall of the Palace and the Concert Studio of the Romanian Radiotelevision. Beside them there were also Romanian artists such as Valentin and Ştefan Gheorghiu, Ştefan Ruha, Ion Voicu, Radu Aldulescu, Vladimir Orlov, Mircea Basarab and Mihai Brediceanu. It was an edition of first auditions, among the most important being the interpretations of the poem Vox Maris,1, both signed by George Enescu. During the 1967 festival, a great importance was given again to promoting both Enescian music and Romanian contemporary creations and it was one of the editions when the highest number of George Enescu’s musical pieces was auditioned and when 18 Romanian composers were included in the concert programs. This edition also brought the first world audition of the Enescian creation, “Trio in A minor for violin, cello, other important first auditions were, “String Quartet No. 2” by Mihail Jora, “String Quartet No. 7” by Wilhelm Berger and “Scene nocturne” by Anatol Vieru. Due to the Beethoven bicentenary, a characteristic of this edition was the massive presence of the creation of Bonn titan –12 works interpreted – during the festival

10.
Queen Elisabeth Competition
–
The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and it is a competition for classical violinists, pianists, singers and cellists. It also held international competitions for composers from 1953 to 2012, since its foundation it is considered one of the most challenging and prestigious competitions for instrumentalists. In 1957 the Queen Elisabeth Competition was one of the members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian concert-violinist, wanted to set up a music competition for young virtuosi showcasing their all-round skill. Queen Elisabeth, patroness of the arts and good friend of Ysaÿe, the prestige of Ysaÿe and Belgiums Royal Court assured that the first competition would draw great entrants. The first two editions of the competition, in 1937 for violin and in 1938 for piano, were named after Ysaÿe, World War II and other impediments prevented the competition from taking place from 1940 to 1950. In 1951, the competition was renamed for its patroness, Queen Elisabeth, entrants are expected to learn a compulsory work written especially for the competition. Usually there is also a section where contestants are expected to perform a work by a Belgian composer, the competition restarted with four-year cycles, starting with two consecutive years for violin and piano respectively, followed by a year for international composition competitions. The fourth year of each cycle had no competition, with the competition for voice introduced in 1988 the four-year cycles were piano → voice → violin → year without performer competition. Before 2002 there were no composition competitions in even years, from 2007 there were no longer years without competition for performers, with three disciplines, each of these returned in a three-year cycle. There were competitions for composition in 2008,2009,2011 and 2012, from 2015 there are again four-year cycles, with, for the first time in 2017, a cello competition added after the year with the piano competition. The Queen Elisabeth Competition generates income from its own activities, from private patronage, the Competition also benefits from the volunteer assistance of families who open their homes to candidates for the duration of the competition. Originally all finalists became ranked laureates, later only the first six laureates were ranked, the first editions of the competition were dominated by candidates from the USSR, the 1937 violin competition was won by David Oistrakh and the next year Emil Gilels won the piano competition. The piano competition of 1952 and the competition of 1955 were the first to see winners from the United States. By the time of the 50th competition in 2012 an increasing number of Asian contestants reached the finals, in the 21st century the top 5 prize winners have received prizes between 10,000 and 25,000 euro, other laureates receiving amounts below 10,000 euro. The first international Queen Elisabeth Competition for composition was held in 1953, the competition was covered on the Belgian radio from its first edition, the press writing about contestants and their performances. Broadcasting via television expanded in the 1960s, french-language and Dutch-language Belgian broadcasting organizations started to award prizes based on the preferences of their audiences from 1975 and 1991 respectively

11.
Bucharest
–
Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than 60 km north of the Danube River, Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. It became the capital of Romania in 1862 and is the centre of Romanian media, culture and its architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the citys elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of Little Paris. Although buildings and districts in the city centre were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic, in 2016, the historical city centre was listed as endangered by the World Monuments Watch. According to the 2011 census,1,883,425 inhabitants live within the city limits, the urban area extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of about 1.9 million people. Adding the satellite towns around the area, the proposed metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.27 million people. According to Eurostat, Bucharest has an urban zone of 2,183,091 residents. According to unofficial data, the population is more than 3 million, Bucharest is the sixth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Paris. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and is one of the industrial centres. The city has big convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional shopping arcades, the Romanian name București has an uncertain origin. Tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur, who was a prince, an outlaw, a fisherman, in Romanian, the word stem bucurie means joy, and it is believed to be of Dacian origin. Other etymologies are given by scholars, including the one of an Ottoman traveler, Evliya Çelebi. A native or resident of Bucharest is called a Bucharester, Bucharests history alternated periods of development and decline from the early settlements in antiquity until its consolidation as the national capital of Romania late in the 19th century. First mentioned as the Citadel of București in 1459, it became the residence of the famous Wallachian prince Vlad III the Impaler, the Ottomans appointed Greek administrators to run the town from the 18th century. A short-lived revolt initiated by Tudor Vladimirescu in 1821 led to the end of the rule of Constantinople Greeks in Bucharest, the Old Princely Court was erected by Mircea Ciobanul in the mid-16th century. Under subsequent rulers, Bucharest was established as the residence of the royal court

12.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town

13.
Brussels
–
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels

14.
Vienna
–
Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north

15.
Edvard Grieg
–
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, the Edvard Grieg Museum in Troldhaugen is dedicated to his legacy. Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, on 15 June 1843 and his parents were Alexander Grieg, a merchant and vice-consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup, a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup. The family name, originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins, after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Griegs great-grandfather, Alexander Greig, traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical milieu and his mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of six. Grieg studied in schools, including Tanks Upper School, Tanks School. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the eminent Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, Bull recognized the 15-year-old boys talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, the piano department of which was directed by Ignaz Moscheles. Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on the piano, and enjoyed the many concerts and he disliked the discipline of the conservatory course of study. An exception was the organ, which was mandatory for piano students, in the spring of 1860, he survived two life-threatening lung diseases, pleurisy and tuberculosis. Throughout his life, Griegs health was impaired by a left lung. He suffered from respiratory infections, and ultimately developed combined lung. Grieg was admitted many times to spas and sanatoria both in Norway and abroad, several of his doctors became his personal friends. In 1861, Grieg made his debut as a concert pianist in Karlshamn, in 1862, he finished his studies in Leipzig and held his first concert in his home town, where his programme included Beethovens Pathétique sonata. In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years and he met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He also met his fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who became a good friend, Nordraak died in 1866, and Grieg composed a funeral march in his honor. On 11 June 1867, Grieg married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup, the next year, their only child, Alexandra, was born. Alexandra died in 1869 from meningitis, in the summer of 1868, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere performance on 3 April 1869 in the Casino Theater in Copenhagen, Grieg himself was unable to be there due to conducting commitments in Christiania

16.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
–
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, Germany, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces

17.
Piano Sonata No. 16 (Mozart)
–
Mozart added the work to his catalogue on June 26,1788, the same date as his Symphony No.39. The exact circumstances of the composition are not known, however. Although the piece is today, it was not published in Mozarts lifetime. A typical performance takes about 14 minutes, the work has three movements, Allegro Andante Rondo The first movement is written in sonata form and is in the key of C major. The familiar opening theme is accompanied by an Alberti bass, played in the left hand, a bridge passage composed of scales follows, arriving at a cadence in G major, the key in which the second theme is then played. A codetta follows to conclude the exposition, then the exposition is repeated, the development starts in G minor and modulates through several keys. The recapitulation begins, unusually, in the subdominant key of F major, according to Charles Rosen, the practice of beginning a recapitulation in the subdominant was rare at the time was written, though the practice was later taken up by Franz Schubert. The second movement is in the key of G major, the dominant key of C major, the music modulates to the dominant key of D major, and then back to G major in which the exposition is heard again. For the development, the music modulates to G minor, then B♭ major, then C minor, then G minor and finally back to G major, the third movement is in rondo form and is in the tonic key, C major. The first theme is lively and sets the mood of the piece, the second theme is in G major and contains an Alberti bass in the left hand. The first theme appears again and is followed by a third theme, the third theme is in a minor key and modulates through many different keys before modulating into C major. The first theme appears again followed by a coda and finally ends in C major. The finale was transposed to F major and collected with a piano arrangement of the second movement of the violin sonata in F major to form the Piano Sonata in F major. Rosen, Charles The Classical Style, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, sonate in C KV545, Score and critical report in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe Piano Sonata No. 16, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Complete score available from the Mutopia Project

18.
Sviatoslav Richter
–
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Richter was born near Zhytomyr, in the Russian Empire. His father, Teofil Danilovich Richter, was a German expatriate pianist, organist and his mother, Anna Pavlovna, was from a landowning family, and at one point had been a pupil of her future husband. In 1918, when Richters parents were in Odessa, the Civil War separated them from their son, and Richter moved in with his aunt Tamara. He lived with her from 1918 to 1921, and it was then that his interest in art first manifested itself, he first became interested in painting, which his aunt taught him. In 1921 the family was reunited, and the Richters moved to Odessa, in early 1920s Richter became interested in music and started studying piano. His father only gave him an education in music, and so did one of his fathers pupils. Even at an age, Richter was an excellent sight-reader and regularly practised with local opera. He developed a passion for opera, vocal and chamber music that found its full expression in the festivals he established in Grange de Meslay, France. At age 15, he started to work at the Odessa Opera, during Richters audition for Neuhaus, Neuhaus apparently whispered to a fellow student, This mans a genius. Early in his career, Richter also tried his hand at composing and he gave up composition shortly after moving to Moscow. Years later, Richter explained this decision as follows, Perhaps the best way I can put it is that I see no point in adding to all the bad music in the world. By the beginning of World War II, Richters parents marriage had failed, because Richters father was a German, he was under suspicion by the authorities and a plan was made for the family to flee the country. Due to her involvement, his mother did not want to leave. In August 1941 his father was arrested and later found guilty of espionage, Richter didnt speak to his mother again until shortly before her death nearly 20 years later in connection with his first US tour. In 1945, Richter met and accompanied in recital the soprano Nina Dorliak, Richter and Dorliak thereafter remained companions until his death, although they never married. She accompanied Richter both in his life and career. She supported him in his last sickness, and died herself a few months later, Richter had a tendency to be private and withdrawn and was not open to interviews

19.
Teldec
–
The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group, Teldec was a producer of shellac and vinyl records. The Teldec manufacturing facility was located in Nortorf near Kiel in Germany, the company was founded in 1950 as a cooperation between Telefunken and Decca Records. The name Teldec is the result of taking the first three letters of both labels, Telefunken and Decca, Records manufactured by Teldec mostly were released under the Telefunken or Decca label, but normally these records contained no hint that they were made by Teldec. In 1983 Telefunken and Decca pulled out of Teldec and in 1987 Teldec was sold to Time Warner. In 1997 the remaining compact-disc production facility in Nortorf was to be closed by Time Warner, but a management buyout was done, in 2001, after the merger of AOL & Time Warner, Teldec closed. In the early 1970s Teldec was acting for Telefunken in the development of a manufacturing technology for Telefunkens TeD BRuhh video disc player TD1005. The disc was freely rotating on a cushion of air between the disc and a fixed plate at 1500rpm, the disc being stabilized only by centrifugal force. The sampling frequency of the combined audio-video signal was about 2.7 MHz, maximum video playing time was ten minutes on a 210 mm disc, amounting to about 15,000 concentric grooves on the disc, each storing two half-frame PAL-video-lines. Teldec / Telefunken issued recordings under its own record label since the 1950s, the conductors under contract included Keilberth, Artur Rother and Belgian conductor Franz André. The American violinist Joan Field recorded for Telefunken the great violin concertos by Bruch, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Mozart, a project of the 1980s was the first recording of the original versions of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eliahu Inbal. A focus in the catalog of the Teldec was the field of music and historical performance practice. The first significant recordings were by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus Wien, then also with other orchestras. In the 1990s Das Alte Werk recorded a few newer artists such as Tragicomedia and Chanticleer, but effectively ceased new projects after Teldecs acquisition by Warner Classics

20.
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
–
The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the national honours system of that country. The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art was established by the National Council as an honour for scientific or artistic achievements by Federal Law of May 1955. At the same time, the National Council also established the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, while not technically counted as lower classes of the Decoration for Science and Art, these crosses are nevertheless affiliated with it. The number of living recipients of the Decoration for Science and Art is limited to a maximum of 72 at any one time, in each of these two groups there are 18 Austrian cititzens and 18 foreign nationals. There are no limits on the number of recipients, there are no limits on the number of recipients. Schmidt, mathematician 2002, Arik Brauer, painter, poet and singer, Peter Wolf, Austrian-born producer and composer, Eugen Biser, religious philosopher, Horst Dreier, legal philosopher, Elliott H. C. W. D.2008, Arvo Pärt, Estonian composer 2007, Herbert W.1999, Peter Simonischek, actor, Erich Gruen,1998, Senta Berger, actress, Kiki Kogelnik, artist, Edith Neumann, microbiologist. 1997, Herbert Willi, composer, Lucian O. Meysels, author, Ernest Manheim, American sociologist of Hungarian origin 1996 and it allows the government to strip recipients of their honours if deemed unworthy. The best known example of such a forfeiture is of the Nazi physician Heinrich Gross, on August 5,2008 the Austrian Science Minister Johannes Hahn decided not to withdraw the award from inventor Johann Grander. - see also Wikipedia German version and see also Austrian ministry www. kurienwissenschaftundkunst, press Release, High Honors Award of the Republic of Austria

21.
Bibsys
–
BIBSYS is an administrative agency set up and organized by the Ministry of Education and Research in Norway. They are a provider, focusing on the exchange, storage and retrieval of data pertaining to research. BIBSYS are collaborating with all Norwegian universities and university colleges as well as research institutions, Bibsys is formally organized as a unit at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, located in Trondheim, Norway. The board of directors is appointed by Norwegian Ministry of Education, BIBSYS offer researchers, students and others an easy access to library resources by providing the unified search service Oria. no and other library services. They also deliver integrated products for the operation for research. As a DataCite member BIBSYS act as a national DataCite representative in Norway and thereby allow all of Norways higher education, all their products and services are developed in cooperation with their member institutions. The purpose of the project was to automate internal library routines, since 1972 Bibsys has evolved from a library system supplier for two libraries in Trondheim, to developing and operating a national library system for Norwegian research and special libraries. The target group has expanded to include the customers of research and special libraries. BIBSYS is an administrative agency answerable to the Ministry of Education and Research. In addition to BIBSYS Library System, the product consists of BISBYS Ask, BIBSYS Brage, BIBSYS Galleri. All operation of applications and databases is performed centrally by BIBSYS, BIBSYS also offer a range of services, both in connection with their products and separate services independent of the products they supply

22.
Integrated Authority File
–
The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format

23.
MusicBrainz
–
MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open data music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the placed on the Compact Disc Database. MusicBrainz has expanded its goals to reach beyond a compact disc metadata storehouse to become an open online database for music. MusicBrainz captures information about artists, their works, and the relationships between them. Recorded works entries capture at a minimum the album title, track titles, and these entries are maintained by volunteer editors who follow community written style guidelines. Recorded works can also store information about the date and country. As of 26 July 2016, MusicBrainz contained information about roughly 1.1 million artists,1.6 million releases, end-users can use software that communicates with MusicBrainz to add metadata tags to their digital media files, such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis or AAC. As with other contributions, the MusicBrainz community is in charge for maintaining and reviewing the data, besides collecting metadata about music, MusicBrainz also allows looking up recordings by their acoustic fingerprint. A separate application, such as MusicBrainz Picard, must be used for this, in 2000, MusicBrainz started using Relatables patented TRM for acoustic fingerprint matching. This feature attracted many users and allowed the database to grow quickly, however, by 2005 TRM was showing scalability issues as the number of tracks in the database had reached into the millions. This issue was resolved in May 2006 when MusicBrainz partnered with MusicIP, tRMs were phased out and replaced by MusicDNS in November 2008. In October 2009 MusicIP was acquired by AmpliFIND, some time after the acquisition, the MusicDNS service began having intermittent problems. Since the future of the free service was uncertain, a replacement for it was sought. The Chromaprint acoustic fingerprinting algorithm, the basis for AcoustID identification service, was started in February 2010 by a long-time MusicBrainz contributor Lukáš Lalinský, while AcoustID and Chromaprint are not officially MusicBrainz projects, they are closely tied with each other and both are open source. Chromaprint works by analyzing the first two minutes of a track, detecting the strength in each of 12 pitch classes, storing these 8 times per second, additional post-processing is then applied to compress this fingerprint while retaining patterns. The AcoustID search server then searches from the database of fingerprints by similarity, since 2003, MusicBrainzs core data are in the public domain, and additional content, including moderation data, is placed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0 license. The relational database management system is PostgreSQL, the server software is covered by the GNU General Public License. The MusicBrainz client software library, libmusicbrainz, is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, in December 2004, the MusicBrainz project was turned over to the MetaBrainz Foundation, a non-profit group, by its creator Robert Kaye

24.
Virtual International Authority File
–
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records